The only way to describe the impact Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” had on everyone for the last several months of 2023 is to call it a spectacle. For months before the movie was released, Mattel was collaborating with a number of brands—from Zara to Burger King to Airbnb—and once the movie was released, people all around the world were dressing up in hot pink and dreamy pastel attire at the theaters.
It was fun.
Everyone was excited, and the movie proved to be such a success that it was all anyone could talk about over the summer. Many were certain that once award season hit, “Barbie” would receive a lot of awards, especially in favor of Greta Gerwig and titular character actress Margot Robbie.
And then, the Oscar nominations were released in late January, and “Barbie” was nominated for eight awards—but no nominations for “Best Leading Actress” or “Best Director.” Robbie’s co-star Ryan Gosling, who played Ken, was nominated for “Best Supporting Actor” and America Ferrera, who played Gloria, was nominated for “Best Supporting Actress” but there was no mention of Gerwig’s directing or Robbie’s performance.
It’s safe to say that fans online were outraged. Gerwig was the first female director to hit $1 billion in the box office, and Robbie’s performance as Barbie was deemed perfect for the film. The lack of nominations for Gerwig and Robbie only prove that not everyone understood the point of the movie. It’s diminishing—completely ignoring the messages of equality and women’s rights that the film portrays.
This isn’t the only time something like this has occurred due to the “Barbie” movie. During the Golden Globes, comedian Jo Koy made a misogynistic “joke” to compare the film to “Oppenheimer.” At the Critics Choice Awards, Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” won over Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” which plays at the emotional climax of the film.
As if we needed another reminder, the girl-empowerment themes from “Barbie” are just as important as ever. The movie has brought more awareness to the role women are expected to play in society, as well as what it’s like to be a woman in a largely male-dominated world. Gosling’s performance as Ken was amazing—but as Gosling said in a statement about the nominations; “there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.”
Internet trends will come and go, and new movies will be released that will catch the attention of everyone once again—but Gerwig’s “Barbie” will no doubt be culturally relevant for a long time. The feel-good trends that had a hold on internet culture for months were something that let everyone get to have fun and embrace their inner child again, and the movie was able to spark a lot of valuable conversations about equality.
20 years from now, people will look back on this time, remembering the “Barbie” movie fondly for what it is, and thinking back on the important, real-world lessons that were continuously being brought up in our society. And at the end of the day, no award nomination can compete with that.
